Who has bigger fans than Ohio State and Michigan? If anyone does, it must be Republican
presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

An obstetrician and 10-term congressman, Paul has achieved some amazing feats over the course of
his underdog run for the highest office. His videos are the most popular of any candidate's on
YouTube.com, and his supporters gave him $4.2 million in a single day on Nov. 5.

Those feats are almost as amazing as what happened Nov. 17 in Ann Arbor, Mich., where Ohio State
and Michigan fans came together to put the cause of liberty and the Constitution above even one of
the sporting world's most intense rivalry. Two airplanes pulled banners over Michigan Stadium, one
saying "U of M for Ron Paul '08" in blue, the other saying "OSU for Ron Paul '08" in red.

Then there was the sea of supporters from both Ohio and Michigan, wearing their respective blue
and scarlet while holding Paul signs over their heads. One of their banners received a national
audience, prominently featured in the crowd behind the announcers of ESPN's
GameDay.

That outpouring at the game has something in common with Paul's Internet support and that huge
day of fundraising back on Nov. 5: Paul's campaign had absolutely nothing to do with it. The event
was organized independently by fervent fans who will do whatever it takes to see their man in the
White House. What other candidate in the 2008 presidential race could ever have that kind of
support? Can you imagine anyone feeling so strongly for, say, Mitt Romney that they would organize
their own fund-raisers, make their own signs, stage their own events without any official support
at all? The campaigns from the so-called big names struggle to draw crowds even when they have
teams of professionals to organize their events for them. And ordinary people are doing all of this
long before most of their neighbors are paying any attention to next November's race.

Paul attracts such unique support for several reasons.

For one, he's the only candidate who favors bringing America's troops in Iraq and around the
world home immediately. This brings him wide support from across the political spectrum, because
polls show 70 percent of Americans feel the same way. The GOP once called itself the party of
smaller government, but now Paul is the only Republican candidate who seriously advocates spending
less at home and abroad and who can explain exactly how he would do it.

Less spending also would mean less taxation. That's why Paul would eliminate the IRS, which
would necessitate cutting spending to year-2000 levels. In the meantime, Paul has introduced
legislation in Congress to immediately remove the tax on workers' tips, which seriously harms
struggling service workers with almost no benefit to the government.

Paul's anti-war, small-government message derives from his commitment to limiting the federal
government to the powers enumerated in the Constitution -- something his fellow politicians stopped
concerning themselves with long ago. This adherence to principle, despite enormous pressure from
lobbyists, special interests, and his own party, earns Paul great respect even from those who
disagree with him.

The mainstream media like to call Paul a long shot, but they may have to change their tune. If
he can succeed at bringing rabid OSU and Michigan fans together, uniting the rest of the country
should be easy.

J. H. Huebert is a Columbus attorney and an adjunct faculty member of the Ludwig von Mises
Institute.